Contents

Summary

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures have provided the first look at the new “Man of Steel,” revealing star Henry Cavill as Superman in the film from director Zack Snyder. The film also stars three-time Oscar® nominee Amy Adams (“The Fighter”) as Daily Planet journalist Lois Lane, and Oscar® nominee Laurence Fishburne (“What’s Love Got to Do with It”) as her editor-in-chief, Perry White. Starring as Clark Kent’s adoptive parents, Martha and Jonathan Kent, are Oscar® nominee Diane Lane (“Unfaithful”) and Academy Award® winner Kevin Costner (“Dances with Wolves”). Squaring off against the superhero are two other surviving Kryptonians, the villainous General Zod, played by Oscar® nominee Michael Shannon (“Revolutionary Road”), and Faora, Zod’s evil partner, played by Antje Traue. Also from Superman’s native Krypton are Lara Lor-Van, Superman’s mother, played by Ayelet Zurer and Superman’s father, Jor-El, portrayed by Academy Award® winner Russell Crowe (“Gladiator”). Rounding out the cast are Harry Lennix as U.S. military man General Swanwick, as well as Christopher Meloni as Colonel Hardy. “Man of Steel” is being produced by Charles Roven, Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Deborah Snyder. The screenplay was written by David S. Goyer, from a story by Goyer and Nolan, based upon Superman characters created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster and published by DC Comics. Thomas Tull and Lloyd Phillips are serving as executive producers. Currently in production, “Man of Steel” is slated for release on June 14, 2013 and will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Development

In June 2008, Warner Bros. was taking pitches from comic book writers, screenwriters, and directors on how to successfully re-start the Superman film series. "I told them, it’s not that bad. Just treat Superman Returns as the Ang Lee Hulk," comic book writer Mark Waid explained. "The Incredible Hulk has proven the audience will forgive you and let you redo the franchise." Comic book writers Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns, and Brad Meltzer also pitched their ideas for a reboot. Morrison's idea was similar to his work on All-Star Superman, while Waid's was akin to Superman: Birthright. Mark Millar, teaming with director Matthew Vaughn, planned an epic 8-hour Superman trilogy, each installment released a year apart, similar to The Lord of the Rings. Millar compared it to the Godfather trilogy, in which it would chronicle the entire life of Superman, from the early days of Krypton to the finale where Superman loses his powers as the sun starts to supernova. August 2009 saw a court ruling in which Jerry Siegel's family recaptured the rights to Superman's origins and Siegel's copyright in Action Comics #1. In addition, a judge ruled that Warner Bros. did not owe the families additional royalties from previous films, however if they do not begin production on a Superman film by 2011, then the Shuster and Siegel estates will be able to sue for lost revenue on an unproduced film. During story discussions for The Dark Knight Rises in 2008, David S. Goyer told Christopher Nolan his idea on how to present Superman in a modern context. Impressed with Goyer's concept, Nolan pitched the idea to the studio, who hired Nolan to produce and Goyer to write based on the financial and critical success of The Dark Knight. Nolan admired Bryan Singer's work on Superman Returns for its connection to Richard Donner's version, but stated that the new film would not have any relationship with the previous film series.

Pre Production

Guillermo del Toro turned down the director's position on the reboot because of his commitment on a film adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness, while Robert Zemeckis was also approached. Darren Aronofsky, Duncan Jones, Jonathan Liebesman, Matt Reeves, and Tony Scott were considered as potential directors, before Zack Snyder was hired in October 2010. Casting began the following November.

Filming

With an estimated budget of $175 million, principal photography will take place on August 1, 2011 at an industrial park near DuPage Airport under the code name "Autumn Frost". Filming is expected to last for two to three months. Filming will later take place at the Chicago Loop from August 7 to August 17. Production will move to Plano on August 22 to August 29. Vancouver Film Studios and Chicago are other shooting locations.

Notes

Coming Soon

Trivia

Darren Aronofsky, Duncan Jones, Ben Affleck, Tony Scott, Matt Reeves and Jonathan Liebesman were considered to direct the movie before Zack Snyder was later chosen.

Ben Affleck turned down directing the film because he wasn't experienced in VFX shots: "A lesson I've learned is to not look at movies based on budget, how much they'll spend on effects or where they will shoot. Story is what's *Matthew Goode, James Holzier, Armie Hammer, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Zac Efron, Dwayne Johnson, Robert Pattinson, Robin O'Donoghue and Henry Cavill were on the final shortlist for the lead role. Henry Cavill was finally cast. He was the front runner to play Superman in another Superman movie but Brandon Routh was cast instead.

Due to his success with the Batman franchise Christopher Nolan was brought on to help develop the reboot of Superman along with screenwriter David S. Goyer. This was merely as a creative consultant, it was never intended for Nolan to direct. When Zack Snyder was later brought on as director, Nolan chose to hand all creative control over to Snyder and focus on The Dark Knight Rises. According to Nolan's wife/producer Emma Thomas, "They Nolan and Goyer brought it to an appropriate screenplay and it's now Snyder's picture."

Before Kevin Costner was cast as Jonathan Kent, actors considered included Dennis Quaid, Bruce Greenwood, Michael Biehn and Kurt Russell.

Prior to being cast as Lois, Amy Adams had two previous Superman connections. Adams played Jodi Melville in Smallville; and her co-star from Enchanted, James Marsden played Richard White in Superman Returns.

Both director Bryan Singer and actor Brandon Routh expressed interest in reprising their positions from Superman Returns on this film; Singer had originally outlined several sequels to follow his story, and Routh was contracted as well. When Warner Bros. announced this film as a "clean reboot" from Singer's film, Routh still expressed interest in returning before Zack Snyder declared that this movie would have no ties to any previous cinematic incarnation of the character.

Kevin Costner's role was previously played by Glenn Ford. Both of them have been involved in competing projects about Wyatt Earp. Glenn was cast in Tombstone, but had to drop out. Costner played the title role in Wyatt Earp, which also cast him opposite Gene Hackman (the original Lex Luthor) as his father.

Connie Nielsen was considered for Lara before Julia Ormond was cast.

Filmed under the fake working title "Autumn Frost" during the summer of 2011 in Vancouver.

See Also

Marketing

A logo for the film featuring a Red and Black Superman emblem appeared at the 2011 San Diego Comic Con along with a logo for The Dark Knight Rises. Warner Bros. and DC Comics won the rights to a domain name in use by a member of the public as use for the film's official website. On August 4, 2011, Warner Bros. released the first official picture of Cavill in full Superman costume along with the official press release.